Wedding Photography in Surrey – Daljit & Andrew at St. Mary’s Church, Walton-on-Thames and Oatlands Park, Weybridge

Every now and then I go to a wedding where I just want to put down the cameras and join in with the guests and this was one of them. An amazing bride, a super relaxed (after the ceremony at least) groom, a whole host of colours on show and above all, everything was within five minutes of home! This was an Indian/English wedding in another great Surrey wedding venue, with a few other nationalities thrown in for good measure and all rolled into one, and that seemed to make for an excellent combination. Quite simply, this wedding was pretty special.

The bridal preparations were taking place at the bride & groom’s house in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey and I met a very relaxed Daljit there at around 10:30. The hair and make up was being done by the excellent Surrey make up artist Amy Lacey of Be Dazzling.  The dress, supplied by Love Me do Brides, went on at around midday and then I had a very quick dash down to the river where Andrew was settling his nerves at the pub. A few shots there (from me that is, not Andrew….) and it was on to the business end of proceedings and over to St Mary’s Church in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Unfortunately, the rules within the church were pretty strict on the photography front which is always a bit unfair on the couple I feel (especially as the wedding photographer has to sit it out while the guests are allowed to snap away!) but I was still able to capture a few pictures from the back. Then it was the short trip to Weybridge in Surrey and the Oatlands Park Hotel. As with all weddings, timings ran over somewhat and I’m always prepared for that, but there was a certain element of panic within me as I realised that the bride and groom were still missing at twenty past three and the ninety minutes I had in which to shoot the formals and bride and groom portraits (the speeches were due to be done at 4!) was quickly diminishing. The bride and groom arrived soon after though and we literally fired off the list of formals (plus a lot more) within half an hour or so. As we were due to go back in for the speeches I still hadn’t managed to get the all important bride and groom portraits, so as their guests made their way inside they made an executive decision to just go with the flow and have the main wedding pictures done while everyone took their seats. Twenty minutes later, we were all done and the speeches (all brilliant speeches I must add, with special mention to Jason, the best man) started.

Food followed, and then it was on to the evening part of the wedding. The Indian influence started things off in spectacular fashion with a couple of drum players leading the bride and groom in to the room in style. I’ve never seen Indian drum players before but following their performance last night I can’t wait to sample some more, they were excellent. I could have quite happily have watched them all night, they only stayed for another ten minutes or so but it certainly set the tone for the night ahead. The cake cutting and first dance done, it was time for the DJ to do his stuff and the party was soon in full swing with some bhangra music, which got everyone up and moving straight away. I stayed on a while to capture the party as it was kicking off, Daljit was burning up the dance floor from the word go while Andrew decided to keep his distance, but just as I said my goodbyes he was finally coaxed onto the dancefloor so I thought it would be rude to slope off without getting the groom showing off his moves…. A few more pictures and I was done, and pretty exhausted. There’s no doubting though that this was going to be some party in the hours that followed where the DJ for the evening, the excellent Jon Saunders, was keeping things ticking along nicely.

A very tiring day but thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish and one of the best weddings I’ve had the pleasure of being the photographer for from the past 12 months without a doubt. Here’s a good few images from the day, feel free to comment below.

All photos taken by David Nash, wedding and portrait photographers in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and London. All rights reserved.